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G-223

Cr-01 Unimog Vs High-lift Hilux Vs Midnight Pumpkin

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Hi, im gonna get my brother a good offroader for christmas, it needs to be tough as nails, good offroad, but instantly driveable on road, ive narrowed it down to these three, a Unimog, a Highlift hilux and a Midnight Pumpkin/ King Blackfoot, three vastly differnet designs (and prices), its not going to be crawling over rocks constantly, it will most likely be used in forests and on rough fields, but it needs to be able to go on road too occasionally, as hes not one for keeping more than one model and it needs to be jack of all trades sadly however i dont want to get a highlift if a lesser model would do his needs, hes not a tinkerer hes a driver, he like to charge and run, not spend ages stripiping and rebuilding,

At the min were using a TA-02 and a Bowler converted TL01 incase that helps

So what are your opinions and suggestions???

Will

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Interesting, sounds like the King Blackfoot would be of choice eventhough it is only 2WD, it will be the fastest for both ON-road and Trail running.. Just a thought

Personally I would go with the Blackfoot Xtreme...

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well speed isnt everything like, and he knows that, he will want it to climb like a billygoat too, and i dont think the 2wd would be enough, would it~???

How about a Superclodbuster, although it seams expensive and basic, but dual motor 4wd should be pretty piffy????

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Get the CR-01

The pumpkin is next to useless off road unless the ground is fairly flat. (awesome fun on flatter ground and insane with faster motors though)

The Highlift is a complex machine, and requires at least a 3 channel radio gear to make the most of it. It also needs modifying to be good offroad, and isn't particularly stable on road. Its a scale truck, and is best enjoyed on scale terrain.

King Blackfoot is a bit of an odd ball, as it's been discontinued for around 6 or so years. Like the pumpkin it's not too great on rough ground.

The CR-01 Unimog is a good all round truck. I don't own one as I'm holding on for Kyosho's rock force, as I want a more purposeful crawler. But for general playing around, they are excellent. With a faster motor, they hold the road well enough too.

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have you considered something like a wild dagger / twin detonator / dual hunter? they are 4wd, twin motor, excellent ground clearance, etc. - very basic design.

they look good, climb well and do very well on road too. they are tough as nails and don't need much for maintenance. the gearboxes are solid and can handle a lot more motor if you want.

i love mine and highly recommend them

just a thought.

P.S. sounds like you're a pretty good brother to me. :lol:

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the cr01 is a bit more money but it is worth it. just make sure you have a good esc as the TEU-101BK gets to hot and stops working after a while. i think a 25 tooth pinion will fit in it, so it can be quite fast. it goes off road well even with both diffs unlocked but i keep mine locked. :lol:

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I own both a CR01 Land Cruiser and an F350 HL, both are great off-road. But for tough as old boots type ability I would recommend the BFE and then get ahold of the gearbox internals, dog bones etc.. Along with a set of Maxx shock and shock towers and pair of faster motors/ESC you'll have a badword of a fun off-roader.

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I own both a CR01 Land Cruiser and an F350 HL, both are great off-road. But for tough as old boots type ability I would recommend the BFE and then get ahold of the gearbox internals, dog bones etc.. Along with a set of Maxx shock and shock towers and pair of faster motors/ESC you'll have a badword of a fun off-roader.

sory for dumbass question, but BFE???

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Steer well clear of the Clod. Probably one of Tamiya's best looking trucks but also probably one of the worst performing. Barley any steering and despite 2 motors the massive weight of it really makes it sluggish. There are only 4 good things to come from the Cold, Axles, wheels and tyres and the body is quite nice. Seperate they are the basis for an excellent crawler but together just don't work.

I agree, the Twin Det is an excellent jack of all trades and has plenty of scope for modification. Not too bad out of the box either.

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Steer well clear of the Clod. Probably one of Tamiya's best looking trucks but also probably one of the worst performing... the basis for an excellent crawler but together just don't work.

Couldn't disagree more :lol:

Don't forget the Clod is over 20 years old now. Think back to the trucks that were available at the time. The MRP High Roller and kyosho USA 1 were its competition. The high roller was about as successful as Gareth Gate's last album and the USA 1 as reliable as Del Boys van. The stock clod is a good replica of a 1980's monster truck. Mudding, pulling and car crushing are what it's good at.

I agree it's probably not what G-223 is looking for, at least in stock form, but cut the old clod some slack! :D

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Couldn't disagree more :lol:

Don't forget the Clod is over 20 years old now. Think back to the trucks that were available at the time. The MRP High Roller and kyosho USA 1 were its competition. The high roller was about as successful as Gareth Gate's last album and the USA 1 as reliable as Del Boys van. The stock clod is a good replica of a 1980's monster truck. Mudding, pulling and car crushing are what it's good at.

I agree it's probably not what G-223 is looking for, at least in stock form, but cut the old clod some slack! :D

Exactly, it's 20 years old and after seeing how much a friend of mine paid for his and the sheer disapointment after he spent ages building it I would like to warn any newbie off it. Yes it's a nice truck as an extravagance, perhaps something to have for very occasional use after your collection has built up a bit, but as a main model in a small collection it's appeal is very limited.

There is so much more bang for your buck out there and thats what I think this guy is after.

(For the record I love the Clod, probably the ultimate shelfer)

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So a blackfoot extreme is the way to go then? he wont want to upgrade it so thats why i though of starting on a higher spec like the f350 or cr01

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I dont think you'll ever get a definite answer, as we're just a random bunch of tamiya fans and all have different opinions!

Your original post said its going to be used in forests and rough fields. The blackfoot extreme will get stuck on rough ground as its 2 wheel drive and needs modifying to have better ground clearance. The twin motored trucks of the same chassis group - the wild dagger, twin detonator, double blaze, duel hunter won't get stuck as easily as they will be pulled along by the front wheels too. On road they are all ok. So all in all a good choice. The only reason to choose the 2 wheel drive blackfoot extreme is for the hard plastic body shell, if you like detail over performance, and it costs half as much to upgrade the power, as its only got one motor.

The CR-01 is a good choice. If he's going to spend more time in the woods and on rough ground, its the better choice.

Probably worth hinting/asking him which one he likes best!! :lol:

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I guess that I am lucky in that I own a VLB, an F350 Hilift and a CR01. 3 totally different trucks VLB is fairly atrocious off road, if you can get it to grip its diff will spin out within seconds. Dont get me wrong its a great fun 2WD truck but you need other off roaders if you own one.

The Hilift is also a great truck, but does require steady maintenance, I sometimes wonder if my nitro Hyper 7 is less fussy! Dont get me wrong I loves my Hilift and wouldnt concider getting rid of it at all. I think it needs some 2.2 wheels and tyres and more importantly 3-4 channel radio gear. Which if you dont have it will add another 100 quid to the kit.

The CR-01 is also a good chassis, more capable out of the box than the Hilift. And can shift along at a fair speed for a crawler based truck. It too I think can be a bit of a fussy thing to mess with. And if your bro doesnt like messing neither the Hilift or the CR are right for him.

Which leads me to my suggestion, even tho I dont own the chassis type!

Tamiya Dual Hunter over at Modelsport

Pretty hard as nails, twin motor, ugly as heck bodyshell, comes with a twin motor speed controller. And is basically what Adam suggested with the Blackfoot extreme but without the hassle of buying loads of other bits for the upgrade of 2wd into 4wd.

or a HPI Wheely King 4x4 with the HPI crawler conversion, it makes a suprising good and stable bash truck. Even with the stock 27 turn motor in it. Heck mine even floated running on the kit wheels!.

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don't get any of those. Get an HPI E-Savage and have the best of all worlds if you want to stick with electric. An E-Revo would however be the ultimate gift for your brother. I think the Revo is just impressive as a gift. It comes well optioned too right out of the box and is RTR. www.Traxxas.com for E-revo. www.hpiracing.com for e Savage.

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Also, another larger sized truck you could look at, if it's available- not sure if it is... is the Traxxas Crawler/Basher. It's 2 speed hi/lo gearing for speed and crawling.

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don't get any of those. Get an HPI E-Savage and have the best of all worlds if you want to stick with electric. An E-Revo would however be the ultimate gift for your brother. I think the Revo is just impressive as a gift. It comes well optioned too right out of the box and is RTR. www.Traxxas.com for E-revo. www.hpiracing.com for e Savage.

Um, you know this is Tamiyaclub.com right ? :P He He He.

The four trucks that have been chosen Pumpkin, Blackfoot Extreme, F350 & CR01 are all completely different kits and chassis types as stated by other members. Most expensive woudl be the F350 I think. The CR01 right in the middle for cost with the Blackfoot Extreme and the Pumpkin for the least.

" most likely be used in forests and on rough fields, but it needs to be able to go on road too "

Well, that automatically excludes the F350 in stock form (NO ground clearance), excludes the Pumpkin (Does nothing but wheelies). The Blackfoot is only 2 wheel drive and would likely get stuck often. So, that leaves the CR01 which has .2 tires, some ground clearance and you can lock the rear & front diffs to keep from getting stuck :). You can add a hotter motor and change the gearing to "speed it up".

Now, alternatives ? The Dual Hunter/Double Blaze/Wild Dagger Chassis is four wheel drive and has 2.2 tires, relatively durable (Although many of us were constantly replacing steering servos), you can lock the rear diff with some imagination too. Also, has the potential for serious hop up. But I'd start with larger shocks & shock towers which is relatively cheap. The txt-1 would fit your bill but may be a bit expensive as it would most likely require hotter motors & esc to satisfy any speed requirements he may have. TXT-1 can crawl (on a basic level with little tuning) or be fitted with a brushless for wicked speed (twitchy handling).

Or ArancioC5 did have a valid point in regard to Traxxas. As complete RTR trucks the value can't be beat (Don't flog me here people). Parts support is unsurpassed (In North America anyway) and they have many to choose from.

But, you know him, what would he enjoy ? The Build ? The potential for hop-ups ? Using it ? What is the cost you are willing to spend ?

Post your decision !

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